New Tool Album: Frontman Maynard James Keenan Addresses New Double Album Rumors

The rumor of the release of a new Tool album this Fall seems to have reached the band’s lead vocalist and frontman Maynard James Keenan. Maynard responded to the rumors with one word via his Twitter account, Metal Injection reports.

The rock star posted ‘#dumb’ on Twitter regarding speculations of a new Tool album, possibly putting the issue to rest. The rumors of a new Tool double album have been circulating since a fan posted on Reddit last week, claiming that Tool would be releasing a 2.5-hour double album titled Decem this fall, before embarking on a big national tour. The fan even posted the track-list of the new album, which included “Descending” — a song partially performed during one of the band’s recent tours.

While the Reddit post, which has since been deleted, has sent many fans to a state of euphoria, some have questioned the validity of the claim, demanding more substantial proof. The poster did not provide any other proof, but did made further speculations.

“Although I really don’t think this is a troll job from my source there is one thing that makes me suspicious. ‘Decem,’ if my research is right, means ‘ten.’ Could that refer to the ten years between albums? If so, that seems awful meta for Tool.”

It has been 10 years since the release of Tool’s latest album 10,000 Days. Tool fans have been desperately awaiting a fifth album ever since. Therefore, it was only natural for Tool fans, even the most cynical ones, to get excited as the rumors of a new double album appeared last week.

And despite a shrewd confirmation from Maynard James Keenan that the band wouldn’t release a new album anytime soon, some fans still seem very optimistic. They point out how Tool likes to mess around with the fans regarding the release of an album. And indeed, the band has done this in the past, one example being that time they posted fake track-listings before the release of Lateralus in 2001.

The most recent report on the highly-anticipated album came in April from one of the moderators of Tool’s official web site. After vising one of the band’s rehearsals, he gave updates on the new album, according to Blabbermouth.

“At this stage of the writing/arranging process… there are only a couple of ‘shorter’ songs left to complete (?), along with a segue or two or three. Of course, we need to keep in mind any changes that might be needed to accommodate the vocals, etc., once all of the arrangements are finished.”

It had widely been speculated that the delay in the release of Tool’s fifth album was the result of frontman Maynard James Keenan’s frustration and indifference with the band’s followers. But in 2014, in an interview with Rolling Stone, Danny Carey and Adam Jones revealed that the actual cause of the delay were family commitments and an ongoing lawsuit.

After the lawsuit was settled in favor of the band in 2015, Jones revealed that the band was now turning their focus to recording a new album, adding that he hoped it would will be released by the end of 2015. Well, it’s past mid-2016 now, and Tool fans across the globe are hoping that the rumors of the double album are actually true.

Tool's lead singer Maynard James Keenan performs during the Cumbre Tajin 2014 music festival [Photo by Felix Marquez/AP Images]

Tool, formed in 1990, is one of the most successful and influential progressive rock bands of the last 25 years. The lineup has consisted of drummer Danny Carey, guitarist Adam Jones, vocalist Maynard James Keenan and bassist Justin Chancellor since 1995, when Chancellor replaced original bassist Paul D’Amour. The band is revered by fans worldwide for their experiment with music, hypnotic lyrics, unusual time signatures and the incorporation of amazing visual arts in their music videos and live performances. The three-time Grammy Award winners have been an inspiration to almost every major rock band since the 90s.

Whether or not Tool releases a new album this fall, some fans will get to see them live come October. Tool will be headlining the 2016 Aftershock festival in Sacramento on October 22.